Natural or propane gas feed auxiliary electric generating system for boilers or furnaces

ABSTRACT

A natural or propane gas fed auxiliary electric generating system is brought to actuation to continue operating the pump in a residential, office building or motel/hotel environment whose boiler operates from the natural gas or propane fed source in the event the electric power otherwise operating the pump is lost or falls below a predetermined threshold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

A Provisional Patent Application covering the invention described hereinwas filed Apr. 12, 2007, and assigned Ser. No. 60/922,984.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Research and development of this invention and Application have not beenfederally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

NOT APPLICABLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to hot water heating systems operative withnatural gas or propane fed boilers or furnaces, in general, and to thecontinued operation of such heating systems in the event electric powerfails.

2. Description of the Related Art

As is well known and understood, houses may have one of several types ofheating systems. Typically, they range from blowing hot air throughductwork to piping hot water through the floor. As with most allequipments, these different heating systems have both advantages anddisadvantages:

a) Forced air heating and cooling systems employ furnaces to heat air ina furnace through the use of natural gas, propane, oil orelectricity—and distribute the air from the furnace through ductwork andinto rooms by registers. Advantages include that the air may befiltered, that the air may be humidified, that the air may bedehumidified, that it is generally inexpensive, and that it is the onlydistribution method that can be used for cooling. Its disadvantages, onthe other hand, include that it requires ductwork and takes up space inthe walls, that the furnace fan can often be heard, and that the airrequires filtration and regular maintenance.

b) Radiant heating systems distribute heat via hot water tubing embeddedin the floor or directly below the floor surface. Working through theprocess of radiation, the fuel sources might include heating stovesemploying wood or coal, and hot water boilers powered by natural gas,propane, oil or electricity. Among its advantages are the comfortableand even heat provided—especially from boilers which can be energyefficient—, while among its disadvantages would be its generallyexpensive installation cost and its slow heat-up cycle.

c) Hot water baseboard systems utilize hot water heated by a boiler toheat a space by a combination of radiation and convection. Fueled bynatural gas, propane, oil or electricity, the hot water heated by theboiler is piped to “fin-tube” baseboard units mounted along walls, withthe fins increasing the surface area of heat dissipation to make theunit more efficient. Hydronic systems of this type are energy efficient,and quiet—but they provide a slow temperature increase and the baseboardradiation/convection units should remain unobstructed. The placement ofthe units with respect to furniture and draperies then needs to beconsidered.

d) Steam radiant heating systems are not oftentimes used today as theyare characterized by cast iron upright radiators which are unsightly,although the heat radiation is both efficient and warms spaces quickly.

As is also well known and understood, when boilers are employed as theheating plant to provide radiant or baseboard heating, they can besmall, compact, energy efficient and of low maintenance. When used toprovide of the steam radiating heating, the boilers are more complex,having special gauge glass, pressure gauges, blow-off valves andautomatic feeds.

As will be appreciated, moreover, where the fuel source for theseboilers is electric in nature, problems arise if electric power is lostduring a storm or just as a result of a fault somewhere in the electrictransmission grid. While this may cause an inconvenience if the faultoccurs during a warmer weather season, a significant problem may ariseif it happens during very cold weather, especially for lengthyintervals. Generally, one can get by without lights and withoutelectricity for television, but not without heat where temperatures falland water pipes might freeze.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As will become clear from the following description, the presentinvention comprises a natural or propane gas fed auxiliary electricgenerating system brought to actuation upon electric power being lost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more clearly understood from aconsideration of the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing which illustrates, in FIG. 1, the manner in whichthe auxiliary heating systems continues to operate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In those systems which employ radiant heat or circulating hot waterbaseboard heating, loss of electricity in the house will be understoodto shut down the pump which distributes the circulating water throughthe hot water tubing, on the one hand, and to the “fin-tube” baseboardunits on the other hand. Where the boiler is fueled by natural gas orpropane, the apparatus of the invention envisions the inclusion of asmall gas or propane fired generator to control and turn on the pump.Such auxiliary generator would be provided with on-board batteries and aprinted electronic circuit board having input controls configured tostart the auxiliary generator warming up upon recognition thatelectrical power inputs to its contacts were lost. Coupling thegenerator to the natural gas or propane line would keep the generatorrunning, and continue to pump the hot water through the house until theelectric power comes back on and the circuit board controls revert totheir quiescent condition.

With the natural gas or propane heating source already available in thehouse, the system of the invention could be used without the alternativeemployment of a gasoline powered auxiliary generator—and its associatedproblems of gasoline odor, fuse controls and gasoline storage. Theauxiliary generator of the invention, as will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, can be an OEM item built into the boiler, or anafter-market unit purchasable by an HVAC contractor who can then installit. Being of a size tailored to the boiler with which it is working,once installed, essentially there is nothing further to have to worryabout in the operation of the auxiliary generator, other than to replaceits on-board batteries at prescribed intervals. The problem of “venting”is not present as it would be with a gasoline powered auxiliarygenerator, as the generator of the invention could just be vented up thechimney, or could be mounted outside.

All that is required is to set up the electronic circuitry of the switchcontrol so that the auxiliary generator kicks on in actuating the waterpump when the electric power is lost. Furthermore, the circuitry can beset to accomplish this only when temperatures fall below a threshold setfor operation to begin—and configured to remain inactive during suchtimes as any main emergency power switch at the location isintentionally shut off. And, as will be appreciated, the auxiliaryelectric generating system of the invention would find particular usewhere the water pipes feeding the radiant heat system and the hot waterbaseboard heating system traverses through crawl spaces and/or theinsides of the outer walls of the house where the temperatures in thewinter are that much colder.

While the invention has particular usefulness in the context of aresidential house environment, it will be appreciated that its teachingsare equally applicable in heating constructions for office buildings andhotels/motels. All that is required is the presence of the natural gasor propane source fueling the boiler, to then be able to kick-start theauxiliary generator to operate the pump should the electric power in thebuilding be lost.

And, whereas the invention has been particularly described in thecontext of a radiant or hot water baseboard heating system employing anelectrically powered boiler, its applicability to activate the fan in anelectrically powered forced air heating furnace system will beunderstood as well. All that is needed is the presence of the naturalgas or propane source for the auxiliary generator to kick on the pumpupon detection of the electric power being lost.

FIG. 1 of the Drawing shows the natural gas or propane fed boiler asreference numeral 10, the pump which distributes the circulating wateras reference numeral 12, and the auxiliary generator as the referencenumeral 14. In accordance with the invention, the pump 12 becomesactuated by the auxiliary generator 14 only when the battery operatedswitch control of the generator (shown as reference numeral 16) isclosed, in recognition of the absence of electrical power at its inputterminals (shown by the reference numeral 18). When the electric poweris lost (or falls below a predetermined threshold, for example), the hotwater heated by the natural gas or propane in the boiler continues to bepumped through the hot water tubing and/or to the baseboard unitsthrough the continued action of the pump under control of the auxiliarygenerator. When the electric power is present, or returns to its normallevel, the auxiliary generator 14 remains in a “standby” mode, to belater brought into operation, when needed, under control of itsappropriate electronic switch circuitry 16 and battery 20.

While there has been described what is considered to be preferredembodiment of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated bythose skilled in the art that modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the teachings herein. For at least suchreason, therefore, resort should be had to the claims appended heretofor a true understanding of the scope of the invention.

1. A residential, office building or hotel/motel structure hot waterheating system comprising: a natural gas or propane fed hot water boileror furnace heater; an electrically operated pump coupled to said heaterfor circulating heated water throughout said structure; and an auxiliarygenerator coupled to the natural gas or propane feed lines for saidheater to continue to operate said pump upon the detection of electricpower supplied to said pump from electrical supply lines connected tosaid structure being below a predetermined threshold.
 2. The hot waterheating system of claim 1, also including a battery energizing source ofpower to switch said auxiliary generator to an operating mode upondetection of the supplied electrical power being below saidpredetermined threshold.
 3. The hot water heating system of claim 2wherein said battery energizing source switches said auxiliary generatorto an operating mode upon detection of a loss of electrical powersupplied to said pump.
 4. The hot water heating system of claim 2wherein said pump distributes circulating water through one of hot watertubing or baseboard units of said structure.